There are many who are arguing that, after his Roland Garros title, Alexander Zverev’s motivation will falter.
Others, meanwhile, are backing it to inspire him onto bigger and better things.
Only time will tell which party proves to be right.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this maiden Grand Slam title, the one he has waited his entire career for, alters the trajectory of his career.
Which player has the most to gain from Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon withdrawal?
After all, at 29 years old, he is far from young, yet still boasts enough time and talent to accomplish great things before he retires.
That is certainly what Boris Becker is expecting of him, having made a rather bold rankings prediction about his compatriot recently.
Boris Becker makes bold Alexander Zverev prediction
Chatting with Eurosport, the six-time major champion began by discussing whether he felt Alexander Zverev had the capabilities to go on to win more Grand Slams.
Echoing that earlier point about his age, Becker insisted: “He has the potential, and at 29, he’s also the age to realise it in the next two or three years.”
He then added: “My advice to him at 29 is: ‘Win everything you can, because at some point, your time will be up.
“It doesn’t end after the first Grand Slam title. It’s about new goals he has to set for himself. Will he become a second Dominic Thiem and ‘only’ win one Grand Slam?”
Becker then shared his big hope for Zverev: “He has what it takes for more – even to be number one in the world rankings, because he has been playing consistently well for many months.”
Zverev recently revealed when he plans to retire from tennis, and judging by this statement, he could actually have plenty of time for more success.
How far away from world number one is Alexander Zverev?
Looking at the ATP live rankings, it makes for really interesting reading amongst the world’s top-three-ranked players.
Naturally, Jannik Sinner still maintains a huge gap at the top, but Zverev has certainly made great strides towards narrowing the gulf between himself and Carlos Alcaraz in second.
Whilst he won the title, Carlos Alcaraz instead missed Roland Garros due to injury. Given that he will also miss Wimbledon, where he reached the final last year, there is another huge chunk of points set to depart from his current tally in the coming months too.
Prove me wrong – Alexander Zverev will win multiple Grand Slam titles now
He's finally got his first!
If the German can perform well in the coming weeks, he could certainly bridge the gap between himself and Alcaraz.
However, he’d need a huge run of poor form from Sinner between now and the end of the season to even consider getting close to his 13,500 points, with Zverev currently sitting on 7190.
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